Tapered separator for pleated filter and apparatus for making the same

ABSTRACT

A tapered separator for a pleated filter formed from a blank of foldable sheet material having one portion folded in zigzag formation to present first fold increments of a first selected height and the remaining portion folded in zigzag fashion to present second fold increments in substantially end-to-end relation with said first fold increments and of a second selected height different from the height of said first fold increments to thereby provide a tapered configuration to the separator.

Nov. 24, 1970 D. E. ENGLEMAN 3,541,829

TAPERED SEPARATOR FOR PLEATED FILTER AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed Sept. 6, 1968- INVENTORI fiafla/d E. Eny/eman United States PatentO 3,541,829 TAPERED SEPARATOR FOR PLEATED FILTER AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING THE SAME Donald E. Englemau, Louisville, Ky., assignor to American Air Filter Company, Inc., Louisville, Ky., 21 corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 757,841 Int. Cl. B21b 13/04 US. Cl. 72-196 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A forming apparatus including first and second pairs of fluted rolls with flutes of different respective depths to form a tapered separator for a pleated filter from a blank of foldable sheet material having one portion folded in zigzag formation to present first fold increments of a first selected height and the remaining portion folded in zigzag fashion to present second fold increments in substantially end-to-end relation with said first fold increments and of a second selected height different from the height of said first fold increments to thereby provide a tapered configuration to the separator.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to pleated filter construc tion, and more particularly, to a tapered separator for separating pleat walls of a pleated filter and a forming apparatus for making the same.

In the art of fluid filteration, it is known to extend filter material back and forth in pleated formation across a fluid stream to be treated with the walls of the pleats of filter material being held in spaced relationship from each other by spacermembers. Various types of spacer members have been utilized in the past to accomplish the spacing of the pleat walls. Many of these types of spacer members have been useful only in limited environments where the pleats have been of a certain shape and have been of limited depth. Other spacers have required costly materials, costly and complex manufacturing equipment, and have been complex and expensive to construct and assemble, requiring multiple steps in construction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.

I The present invention provides an apparatus formaking a space member which avoids the disadvantages pf past constructions, the present invention permitting efiicient and economical mass production, and at the same time, being adaptable to varying size and configuration demands.

Various other features of the present invention will become obvious to one skilled in the art upon reading the disclosure set forth herein.

More particularly, the present invention provides an apparatus for forming a tapered separator for a pleated filter comprising: a first pair of fluted rolls to receive a blank of foldable sheet material to fold at least a portion thereof in preselected zigzag formation, the flutes of the first pair of rolls being of a first preselected depth to provide first folds of a first selected height; and a second pair of fluted rolls to receive the blank of foldable sheet material to fold a portion thereof in preselected zigzag formation, the flutes of the second pair of rolls being of a second preselected depth different from the depth of the first rolls to provide second folds in substantially end-toend relation with at least a portion of the first folds and of a second selected height different from the height of the first folds to thereby form a tapered separator configuration.

It is to be understood that various changes can be made 3,541,829 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 in the arrangement, form, and construction of the apparatus and of the article set forth herein without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing which discloses one advantageous embodiment of the present invention:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view disclosing a novel tapered separator of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial elevational view disclosing the tapered separator of FIG. 1 in engagement with a sheet of filter material folded back and forth upon itself;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of one embodiment of the novel apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the end-to-end pairs of rolls of FIG. 3, illustrating that the pitch planes of such roll pairs are in common; and

FIG. 5 is an isometric elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the novel tapered separator of the present invention is disclosed. This spacer member can be formed from blank 2 of suitable foldable sheet material having a quality and thickness which permits it to hold the shape into which it is folded. Any one of a number of known materials can be utilized for the spacer members, and advantageously, a good quality aluminum sheet can be employed. Blank 2 is sized in accordance with the particular size and shape of the pleated unit filter assembly in which it is to be employed. The blank includes one portion thereof folded in preselected zigzag formation to provide a plurality of fold increments 3 of a first selected height. The remaining portion of the blank is folded in preselected zigzag formation to provide a plurality of fold increments 4 of a second selected height, fold increments 4 being in substantial end-to-end relation with fold increments 3. It is to be noted that the height of fold increments 4 are different from the height of fold increments 3, the separator thus taking on a tapered configuration. This is more readily apparent from FIG. 2 of the drawing which discloses two such novel separators in engagement with a sheet of filter material 6 folded back and forth upon itself in pleated formation,

the resulting filter serving to be utilized across a fluid stream to be treated, with the pleats of material being held in spaced relation by the spacer members as will be obvious from this figure.

To fold blanks 2 in an efficient and economical manner, a novel apparatus such as that disclosed in FIG. 3

of the drawing is utilized. This apparatus includes. openended rectangular housing frame7 having a spacedpair of bearing blocks 8 supported in one sidewall thereof, and a spaced pair of bearing blocks 9 supported in the opposite side wall thereof. Suitable roll support pins 11 are rotatably journaled in bearing blocks 8 to extend within housing 7 in cantilever fashion. Roll pins 11 serve to support a pair of similar fluted rolls 12 thereon, the flutes of the rolls of the roll pair meshing in geared relationship. The upper roll of roll pair 12 is driven through gear 13 fixed to an end of roll pin 11 projecting outside housing 7. Gear 13, in turn, is connected by endless chain 14 to drive gear 16 mounted on drive shaft 17. Shaft 17 is supported on bearing blocks 18 which are, in turn, mounted on housing 7. Shaft 17 can be rotated by crank arm 19 connected at one end thereof. It will be obvious that when crank arm 19 is rotated, drive gear 16 is caused to rotate. This, in turn,,rotates gear 13 and thus meshed roll pair 12, the lower roll of roll pair 12 being mounted on its roll support pin 11 in idle fashion from bearing block 8.

As will be obvious from FIGS. 3 to 5 of the drawing, a second pair of fluted similar rolls 22 are provided in housing 7. Rolls 22 are supported on suitable roll support pins 23 (FIG. 3) which extend in cantilever fashion from bearing blocks 9. As with roll pin 12, the flutes of upper roll 22 meshes in gearlike fashion with the flutes of the lower roll, the lower roll being mounted on its pin in idle fashion. The upper roll pin 23 has a driven gear 24 thereon whch is, in turn, connected through endless chain 25 to gear 26 mounted on drive shaft 17. It is to be noted that the roll pairs 12 and 22 in the embodiment of FIG. 3 are in adjacent end-to-end relation, and that the pitch planethat is, the plane perpendicular to the axial plane and tangent to the pitch surfaces of a roll pairof one roll pair is in common with the pitch plane of the other roll pair, attention being directed to XX of FIG. 4.

As can be seen in FIG. 5, a suitable guide and feed table 28 is mounted on housing 7, the surface of this feed table being in alignment with the common pitch plane of the first and second fluted roll pairs so that a blank of material can be fed simultaneously between the two pairs of rolls without bending. In accordance with one novel feature of the present invention, the roll pairs 12 and 22 are so arranged that the diameters of the rolls of one roll pair differ from the diameter of the rolls of the other roll pair, but the distance around the periphery of a roll of roll pair 12, including the peripheral distance along the flutes of such roll times the gear ratio of the drive to the driven gear for such roll pair is substantially equal to the distance around the periphery of a roll of the other roll pair including the peripheral distance along the flutes of the other roll pair times the gear ratio of the drive to the driven gear for such roll pair. Accordingly, the same amount of distance is covered by each roll pair on the blank in same unit time as it is fed simultaneously through both roll pairs. In accordance with still another novel feature of the present invention, the flutes of one roll pair are so related to the depth and number of flutes of the other roll pair that the folds in one portion of the blank as formed by one roll pair are equal multiples of the folds in the other portion of the blank as formed by the rolls of the other roll pair. In addition, it is to be noted that adjacent ends of the flute crests of adjacent roll pairs advantageously can be rounded as at 30 to reduce the possibilities of binding.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not to be considered as limited to the embodiment of the apparatus disclosed in FIGS. 3 and 5. For example, it is possible to provide an apparatus wherein a first pair of fluted rolls are sized along their rotating axis to fold substantially an entire blank of foldable sheet material to a first predetermined depth and a second pair of rolls are provided sized to fold at least a portion of the fold blank to a second predetermined depth different from the first depth. Advantageously, the second pair of rolls 4 would be sized to refold at least a portion of the foldable blank to a second predetermined depth larger than the first depth. It is to be understood that in such arrangement, it would be necessary to have the different roll pairs in successive relationship rather than in end-to-end relationship.

The invention claimed is:

1. Apparatus for forming a tapered separator for a pleated filter comprising: a first pair of fluted rolls to receive a blank of fpldable sheet material to fold at least a portion thereof in preselected zigzag formation, the flutes of said first pair of rolls being of a first preselected depth to provide folds of a first selected height; and a second pair of fluted rolls to receive said blank of foldable sheet material to fold a portion therof in preselected zigzag formation, the flutes of said second pair of rolls being of a second preselected depth different from the depth of said first rolls to provide folds of a second selected height ditferent from said first height and thereby a tapered separator; said first and second fluted roll pairs being in a common housing in adjacent end-to-end relation.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, the depth and number of flutes of one roll pair being so related to the flutes of the other roll pair that the folds in one portion of the blank is an equal multiple of the folds in the other portion of the blank.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pitch planes of said first and second fluted roll pairs are in common, said roll pairs being driven through gear chains from a common shaft with the distance around the periphery of a roll including flutes of one roll pair times the gear ratio of the drive to the driven gear for such roll pair being substantially equal to the distance around the periphery of a roll including flutes of the other roll pair times the gear ratio of the drive to the driven gear for such other roll pair.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, the adjacent ends of the flute crests of adjacent roll pairs being rounded.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 464,403 12/1891 Turpin 72l96 1,017,400 2/1912 Frey 72l96 1,139,266 5/1915 Gibson 72l96 X 1,163,865 12/1915 ,Schoellkopf 72l96 1,937,466 11/1933 Smith et al. 72l96 X 2,537,026 1/1951 Brugger 72l96 MILTON S. MEHR, Primary Examiner 

